Drawing: Dawn Steele in Volcano

Posted on July 24, 2015 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Dawn Steele

Scottish actress Dawn Steele returned to the stage in Noel Coward’s ‘lost’ play Volcano which completed a UK tour with a limited six-week run at London’s Vaudeville Theatre in the Autumn of 2012. promoted as a ‘tempestuous drama bubbling with scandal’, it was never performed in Coward’s lifetime and this is believed to be the first major production of the play and it’s West End debut. Written in 1956 when the playwright was suffering the dubious status of being Britain’s first tax exile, it is the product of his laid-back lifestyle, living in a chalet on a hilltop in Jamaica. Crucially it contains a wicked portrait of his equally famous neighbour, James Bond author Ian Feming. “Smouldering libidos among the idle rich,”was one description. Set on the fictional Caribbean Island of Samola,the plot revolves around a love affair between widowed Adela (Jenny Seagrove) and philandering guy (Jason Durr). Enter Dawn, as the acid-tongued wife, Melissa who turns up to retrieve her cheating husband. Best known for playing ‘sexy Lexie’ in the BBC’s Monarch of the Glen,the Independent’s Paul Taylor said one of the highlights was the sparring between Adela and the “witty, glintingly malignant Melissa.” the West End Wingers called Dawn’s performance “pleasingly acidic.”

Dawn signed this sketch and added a kind dedication at the theatre.

Drawing: Hayley Atwell in The Faith Machine

Posted on July 23, 2015 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Hayley Atwell

English actress Hayley Atwell made her West End debut as Catherine in A View From The Bridge at the Duke of York’s in 2009, earning an Olivier award nomination. In September 2011 she appeared in the world premiere of Alexia Kaye Campbell’s third play The Faith Machine on the Jerwood stage at the Royal Court Theatre. Directed by Jamie Lloyd. it’s based on the premise that making choices has consequences. The Standard’s Henry Hutchings used the phrase ‘karmic boomerang’ as an appealing way to convey the notion that one’s choices have inevitable repercussions and must reconcile the seductions of different belief and value systems. Having faith might seem reasonable when you are conscious of it’s unreasonable nature. In this play, Hayley played Sophie, an inspirational journalist who suddenly hurls her bewildered lover, Tom (Kyle Soller) a choice, right at the beginning: either he quits being an advertising exec for a corrupt pharmaceutical multinational or she’s leaving. The choice he makes and the events of that day changes their lives forever. Quentin Letts in The Daily Mail called it a “breakthrough in the religion versus atheism battle. In fact it’s almost enough to make one say ‘Hallelujah’.”

I haven’t had much luck with sketches being returned from the Royal Court and Sloane Square is on the outer fringes of my graph-hunting territory. As one of the lines in the play noted,”The real world is cruel and harsh and full of compromise.” A little overstated for my situation, but compromise I did. I put my faith in Hayley’s London agents and left it with them-a choice that had excellent consequences.

Drawing: Rebecca Hall in Twelfth Night

Posted on July 22, 2015 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Rebecca Hall

I drew a quick portrait of British Bafta-winning actress Rebecca Hall with a fine point biro about five years ago, which she signed for me at a screening of THE TOWN at London’s West End Odeon. For this more detailed one of Rebecca as Viola, I used the same pen, but a gazillion more lines. It was in the daze before my current 4B regime. In late 2010, she put her blossoming film career on hold to return to the stage for her father’s anniversary revival of TWELTH NIGHT at the National Theatre. It was Sir Peter Hall’s fourth production of the Shakespearean comedy and Rebecca’s debut at the National, which her father previously ran for 15 years from 1973 to 1988, succeeding the founding artistic director Sir Laurence Olivier. Naturally pleased to see his daughter back on the boards in one of his plays, he said, “If you want to have good theatre you need Hollywood movies because they pay, theatre doesn’t.” Shakespeare casted boy actors to play girls dressed as boys in love with boys. Sir Peter cast his daughter in the same way, “with mysterious and alluring results,” wrote Warwick Thompson in his Bloomberg review.”…a lady who decides to pass for a lad, and who then causes a storm of erotic triangulations.”

Rebecca signed this one for me at the stage door on a fresh February evening. It may have even been the month’s 12th night…maybe not. I think it was a Wednesday, like today,so what better reason to post it.

Drawing: Martin Guptill

Posted on July 21, 2015 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Martin Guptill

My team, New Zealand did very well at this year’s Cricket World Cup,held, jointly between my home country and our noisy neighbours, Australia. One of the key members of the ‘Black Caps’ was opening batsman, Martin Guptill. However, leading up to the tournament, he wasn’t filling the supporters with a lot of confidence, scoring three ducks (that’s 0, for non-cricketing types and aquatic bird fanciers) in warm-up matches. Thankfully that all changed as ‘Marty two-toes’ ( as he’s nicknamed due to a forklift accident that caused the loss of three toes) belted 2 50’s, a century and 237 not out on New Zealand’s way to the final. The unbeaten 237 was against the West Indies in the quarter final at Westpac Stadium in NZ’s capital, Wellington on 21 March.It is the highest individual score at a World Cup, scored from only 163 balls, including 11 sixes and 24 fours. He was the first kiwi cricketer to reach a ‘double-ton’ in One Day Internationals (ODI’s) and only one of five to achieve the milestone. The Caps went on to post 393/6, which is the best team total in a World Cup knockout match..oh yes, and we won! Martin was awarded the Best Batsman title for the Tournament,scoring the most runs.

To commemorate the feat (minus three toes), I drew this drawing and tried to get Martin to sign it in person at the Kia Oval, after their thrilling win over England in the recent ODI Series over here in the UK. But after waiting for two hours the team bus picked them up at another gate, so I missed out. I sent it to Trent Bridge in Nottingham where they played the 4th match and it came back signed.Good score!

Drawing: Ekaterina Bakanova in La traviata

Posted on July 20, 2015 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Ekaterina Bakanova

“One hell of a way to make a Royal Opera debut” is how Tom Service headlined his Guardian article as Russian soprano Ekaterina Bakanova became the talk of the opera world on 4 July.

She stepped in to sing Violetta in the last show of this season’s La traviata at Covent Garden with only hours’ notice and “gave the performance of her life”.

The evening’s scheduled Violetta, Sonya Yoncheva woke up unwell and by lunchtime was forced to cancel her appearance. It just so happened, Ekaterina was rehearsing that morning at the ROH for her role as Musetta for her Covent Garden debut in Puccini’s La Boheme on 9 July. With only five hours’ notice, she was asked to stand in for Sonya.

She agreed. Apparently she had a ticket for that evening’s performance, so she got to see the show form a much closer vantage point (hopefully they gave her a refund!) She had played the role before, but this was a whole new production and in one of the world’s biggest opera houses.

Ekaterina received a deserved standing ovation performing without a slip. “She had the audience spellbound from pretty well her first notes and her scintillating vocal power… embodied the desperation, dramatic extremity and existential plight of Violetta more completely than any other performance I have seen”, wrote Tom Service.

What better reason to draw a sketch… as if I needed one. This is a quick portrait of Ekaterina and a drawing of her as Musetta in the Torino production of La Boheme in 2013. I left it with the great staff at the ROH stage door and Ekaterina returned it straight away, signed and dedicated.

Drawing: Ria Lina in Taboo Raider

Posted on July 18, 2015 by Mark Winter / Chicane

ria lina

Comedian, musician, and writer Ria Lina previewed her new show Taboo Raider at the Museum of Comedy in the Leicester Square Theatre before taking it to this year’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival next month. A regular in stand up for the past 14 years both in the UK and internationally, The Guardian said, “I have no doubt she will hold her own so easily that she’ll have a hand free to hold someone else’s too.” Her shows combine stand up comedy and song.

At last years’s festival Ria’s show School of Riason received award nominations and plaudits alike and a commission for BBC Radio 4. A mother of three, Ria based the comedy routine on home schooling her children.

Taboo Raider looks at modern taboos – racism, sexism and discrimination – “not for the faint of humour” warned the show’s publicity material.

With a BSc in Experimental Pathology from St Andrews University, a Masters in Forensic Science and a PhD in Viral Bioinformatics from UCL… it owudld be fair to say Ria’s Creative juices are fuelled by potent cerebral content.

Did I think I’d be a stand up comic? No, I kinda fell into that but it’s been a surprisingly good fit” Ria said in a recent interview with The New Current.

When asked what she wants her audiences to take away from her shows she says “hopefully buy the CD”. Ria signed this sketch at the Leicester Square Theatre. You can vote for Ria’s Taboo Raider poster in the Edinburgh Comedy Poster Awards, or if you’re lucky enough to be in Edinburgh, catch the show.

Drawing: Gillian Anderson in A Streetcar Named Desire

Posted on July 17, 2015 by Mark Winter / Chicane

gillian anderson

The 2014 summer production of Tennessee Williams’ 1948 Pulitzer Prize winning drama A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE at London’s Young Vic Theatre became the fastest-selling show in the venue’s history with the run extended due to demand.

Gillian Anderson gained critical acclaim for her performance as Blanche DuBois, winning the Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Actress and her second Olivier award nomination. Directed by Benedict Andrews, the production also featured Ben Foster and Vanessa Kirby. The theatre collaborated for the first time with the National Theatre Live to broadcast the show live to over 1100 venues on 16 September 2014. It will also transfer to St. Ann’s Warehouse in New York next year.

I met Gillian at the Young Vic where she signed a sketch I did of her in the role of Nora from THE DOLL’S HOUSE, which collected her first Olivier nom. I left this sketch of the three STREETCAR leads at the theatre, hoping they would sign it. Time passed and nothing returned, so I forgot about it. Vanessa signed an individual drawing for me. The dealers harassed Ben and tended to avoid graphing, so I didn’t bother him. Then, last week, this arrived in the mail, signed by Gillian. It’s one of the many surprises of this game. The longest time an item has taken to come back was three years, so don’t give up hope…or change your address.

Drawing: Rory Kinnear in Othello

Posted on July 16, 2015 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Rory Kinnear

“Rory Kinnear is a National Treasure”,states The Independent, and they may well be right. Throughout the summer of 2013, the brilliant British actor played the Shakespearian villain Iago opposite Adrian Lester in the title role of OTHELLO at the National Theatre in London. Both won the Best Actor Award at the Evening Standard Awards with Rory going on to win his second Olivier. The Mail’s Quentin Letts wrote it was a “fine performance from Mr Kinnear, who cements his reputation as one of our stage’s stars”.

His last theatre success however was as a playwright with his debut play THE HERD, which opened at the Bush Theatre in September 2013. It was shortlisted for the Most Promising Playwright at the Evening Standard Theatre Awards and has just ended it’s first American run at Chicago’s legendary Steppenwolf Company.

Rory is currently treading the boards, or in this case a 15m long moving ‘travelator’ as Josef K in Richard Jones’s production of Nick Gill’s adaption of Franz Kafka’s THE TRIAL at London’s Young Vic. During rehearsals for the play he was also required for night shoots on the next Bond film SPECTRE, reprising the role of M16’s ever-dependable Tanner. He said he would finish at 5am and then be required at rehearsals between 11 and noon, so sleep was in short supply. A punishing schedule made all the more extreme when he is on stage for the entirety of the interval-free production.

Then, just when you finish a Saturday evening after a long week, looking forward to the Sunday off, you are confronted at the exit by a serial sketcher wanting you to sign a drawing. But, true to form, Rory was his usual amiable self…’Ah, another masterpiece”, he complimented. (Rory actually has a HAMLET sketch I did of him, framed and hanging on his wall at home.) Sleep deprivation I modestly thought.

Drawing: Bad Jews

Posted on July 15, 2015 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Bad Jews

Joshua Harmon’s corrosive family comedy BAD JEWS, directed by Michael Longhurst just completed it’s extended West End run at the Arts Theatre in London on Saturday. It originated at the Theatre Royal Bath’s Ustinov Studio last year before transferring to the St James Theatre in London in January then onto the Arts a month later.

Described by WhatsOnStage as a “brutal, feral script with great soul” it centres on a gathering of three jewish cousins in a cramped Manhattan apartment for their grandpa’s funeral. Daphna (Jenna Augen), a puritanical vegan uber-Jewess and Rabbi in training is jealous of Jonah (Joe Coen) and Shlomo (Ilan Goodman), who calls himself Liam, because their wealthy parents bought them a flat before either had found a job. Liam is a self-styled ‘bad jew’,obsessed with Japanese culture and intends to marry out of the faith. He arrives late, missing the funeral because he was skiing (apparently a non-Jewish activity) in Aspen with his dim, but beautiful gentile girlfriend Melody (Gina Bramhill). The crux of the conflict is a lucky medallion, a treasured family heirloom, which their grandfather hid in his mouth during years in a concentration camp. Daphna and Liam both claim it, but the latter has it in his pocket and intends to give it to Melody as a marriage garland. Daphna is displeased, screaming, get it off her “Christian c**t neck!”

Paul Taylor in the Independent put it simply, “blisteringly funny…brilliantly acted.”

I, as usual left it to the last day to get my sketch signed, but not the last performance. I thought I would attempt to get the cast going in for the matinee in an already over-subscribed saturday stalking schedule. Getting there at noon, the very helpful box office staff told me that they all arrive at different times, but usually after 1.30. Plan B. I wrote a quick note and left it with a stamped envelope (a sig stalker is always prepared) and one of my black Pentel fine point pens… oh yes and the drawing (which once or twice I’ve forgotten to include, but that’s for another time), with the aforementioned wonderful staff. ‘No Problem, the Production Manager calls past before each performance – we’ll give it to her”, and ‘mazel tov’ to me… it arrived, signed in my post box, within three days.

Drawing: Felicity Kendal in Hay Fever

Posted on July 14, 2015 by Mark Winter / Chicane

felicity kendall hay fever

Following a successful run at the Theatre Royal Bath and a subsequent tour last year that included Australia, Noel Coward’s Classic comedy Hay Fever returned to the West End with Felicity Kendal in the lead role of Judith Bliss the thespian matriarch of the dysfunctional Bliss family at London’s Duke of York’s Theatre.

I loved Jane Shilling’s description in the Daily Telegraph, “her performance is a positive mille-feuille of theatricality, fading sexual allure and suppressed rage, spun around a cone of pathos.”

Apparently ‘mille-feuille’ – the classic French pastry – is having a resurgence across the UK. It’s the culinary ‘in thing’, hence the analogy… I guess.

After a splendid stage and screen career spanning 45 years, audiences and critics alike have never lost their appetite for one of Britain’s most popular performers.

Quentin Letts gave the production five stars in his Daily Mail review, stating “From the moment Miss Kendal steps through the French windows from the garden (where Judith has been trying to learn flower names) this show is a winner.”

Felicity signed this ‘Judith sketch’ I did going into the theatre for last Saturday’s matinee. As usual she was engaging, discussing the wonderful summer weather. A fellow cast member walked by and said, “wow!” referring to the drawing (I think) and Felicity said “I know!”. Hay Fever is scheduled to run until 1 August 2015.